Turning Self-Doubt Into Fuel
Handling Your Inner Heckler (Comedy Mindhack #20)
We’ve all had that experience where, as soon as we look into the mirror, we hear our inner heckler. Some days, in fact, it’s like our inner critic sits in the front row of our lives with a cocktail in hand, ready to heckle us after every syllable we utter or every shaky step we take. It’s a relentless voice. For comedians it can be louder than the audiences’ laughs and bigger than the clubs’ spotlights. So, how do we handle it? By keeping it in check!
If we can learn to keep our inner critic in check, it can actually be like a secret weapon that helps us level up. At its best, that tough critic can truly sharpen our material and keep us honest but, at its worst, it can lock us up mid-thought, like a deer caught in high-beam headlights. We have to harness our inner voice and its power without letting it hijack our punchlines or our confidence or our lives.
Notice: I’m not saying ignore it or do away with it. Nope! Why not? Why not get rid of it? Because I believe there are real upsides to playing the critic for yourself. I recently saw a quote from NBA rookie and phenom, Cooper Flagg, that gets at this. His mom always told him, “If you’re the best one in the gym, you need to find a new gym.” You see, in this instance, Flagg could’ve let that inner voice tell him, “You’re the best. Stay here and run this place!”
Instead, he trained himself to welcome that voice as a coach rather than a cheerleader. He dragged himself into gyms full of players who treated him like the opening act at a dunk contest, using every critique as a roadmap to get better. And it has worked because he has control. He lets his inner critic point out his weaknesses but then has the mental wherewithal to go hunting for opponents who can also expose them. He knows that real growth happens when you’re the worst player in the room but have the mindset that you can be the best. By embracing his internal critique instead of running from it, he turned self-doubt into fuel for improvement. We can all do the same for any area of our lives, including comedy.
For instance, I did a show last weekend that I’d spent months prepping for. Up until right before I went on stage, I was editing and even writing new jokes. Catching sloppy phrasing before I went up was like defusing a bomb inside my head. I chose to let the inner critic be a form of quality control that held my jokes to a higher standard. And it really paid off. In that way, being critical of your own jokes or bits can lead to tighter setups, clearer builds, and punchlines that hit hard.
But there is a dark side to self-critique, too. It’s the side that can crush creativity faster than sharing a big idea with your spouse. Example: Overthinking every syllable. In joke writing, every syllable does matter. But overthinking it can turn writing a joke into a situation that feels like you’re negotiating a hostage release. Or, you start doubting yourself, second-guessing every idea, and end up stuck in analysis paralysis. That kind of state prevents you from writing, performing, or even leaving the house in something other than pajamas.
My point is: the trick is to treat your inner critic like a guest rather than a headliner. Give him 10 minutes rather than 30. Also, you gotta remember that there’ll always be plenty of external critics ready to weigh in on you. Always! When that happens, let your inner critic go to town critiquing their critiques! It’s an incredible skill to be able to find the meat in criticism while discarding the fat and bones! So, embrace your inner critic enough to sharpen yourself and your craft and to defend you from stupid criticism, but keep it on a leash so it does not turn your creativity into rubble. Do that and you’ll feel much better next time you look into the mirror.